All in the Family: Parental Support in New Student Academic and Career Decisions

1. All in the Family: Parental Support in New Student Academic and Career Decisions

2. Program Staff • Deb Vetter Associate Dean for Student Success Programs Asbury College • Sally Foster Director of Career Services Asbury College • Carolyn Ridley Director of Alumni and Parent Programs Asbury College • Laurie Schreiner Chairof Department of Doctoral Studies in Education Director of Center for Strengths-Based Education Azusa Pacific University

3. Session Overview • Millennial Student and Parent Characteristics • Program Goals • StrengthsFinder® Assessment • Student-Parent Dialogue Program Overview • Fiscal Considerations • Program Assessment • Questions and Answers

4. Millennial Student and Parent Characteristics

5. Millennial Student Characteristics • Instant gratification vs. long-term planning • Most watched and measured generation • Most technologically savvy generation • In constant contact with friends and family (the eternal umbilicus) • Want and seek parent involvement (as opposed to being embarrassed by it) • Most have rarely done anything on their own • Asking for a form of ‘en loco parentis’ from their colleges

6. Seven Core Traits of Millennials • Special • Sheltered • Confident • Team-oriented • Conventional • Pressured • Achieving As described by Howe and Strauss in Millennials Go to College

7. Millennial Parent Characteristics • “Parents of millennials have been obsessive about ensuring the safety of their children, Howe said. When the first wave was born in the early 1980’s, ‘Baby on Board’ signs began popping up on minivans. They were buckled into child-safety seats, fitted with bike helmets, carpooled to numerous after-school activities and hovered over by what Howe describes as ‘helicopter parents.’” --Don O’Briant, “Millennials: The Next Generation,” The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, August 11, 2003

8. Millennial Parent Characteristics • They are older (boomers), have smaller families, and are more educated • Emotionally invested • Reconciling “do as I say, not as I did” boomer generation model of hypocrisy • Believe their children are going to “save us all”; “be somebody” • Over-protect their children and push them hard to achieve • Believe in bottom-up social community, not top-down institutional authority

9. Millennial Parent Characteristics • Choose the college their child will attend, lobby administrators for particular roommate, pick classes, buy books • See institutions as a product and themselves as a consumer who wants to get their money’s worth at any cost. • Flex their muscles around college administrators and pester professors (Who’s in charge?) • In 2004 parents formed the 7000 member College Parents of America, of Arlington, VA, reflecting a growing activism • Return to campus for numerous reasons

10. Helicopter Parents Hovering by being involved in the daily decisions and actions of their students; rushing to their rescue beyond what is considered normal and appropriate.

11. Examples of “Helicopters” • Mother comes to campus to take care of sick child who had been to health services (University of Wisconsin) • Mother showed up on campus without son to register for his classes and meet with his academic advisor (California Polytechnic State University) • Mother in Salt Lake City flies to Cambridge, MA to argue with a Harvard University professor about her daughter’s biology grade • Father leaves the parent seminar at Saint Louis University to wake up his son, a college student, for a campus job interview • A young woman at a college in the Northeast calls her dad in the South because it’s snowing, and she wonders if classes will be canceled. He calls the school to find out.

12. College/University Response • Entire new departments developed to field parents’ calls and emails • Separate orientations for parents to keep them occupied and away from student sessions • “Parent Bouncers”–students trained to divert parents trying to attend student registration (University of Vermont)

13. Program Goals

14. The Student-Parent Dialogue • Multi-faceted program • Student Dialogue • Parent Dialogue • Student-Parent Dialogue • StrengthsQuest™ curriculum from The Gallup Organization • Sponsors • Student Success Programs • Career Services • Alumni and Parent Programs • Began in the fall of 2004 through a grant from the Lilly Endowment focused on the theological exploration of vocation

15. Purpose of the Student-Parent Dialogue • To help students and their parents develop a common language and perspective on vocational calling • To provide a context in which to continue meaningful conversations between students and parents regarding vocational calling

16. Goals for Students • To have a better understanding of who they are and their strengths • To understand how their strengths can be applied to succeed in academics, career planning, and beyond • To become actively involved in making their own decisions regarding their future

17. Goals for Parents • To understand their student as a distinct individual from themselves • To learn how to be appropriately supportive in helping their students make their own decisions • To redefine their role as a parent of a young adult • To have confidence in their student’s ability to make decisions and navigate life

18. StrengthsFinder®Assessment

19. Strengths Philosophy “Individuals gain more when they build on their talents, than when they make comparable efforts to improve their areas of weakness.” —Clifton and Harter, 2003

20. StrengthsFinder® Assessment • Authored by Donald Clifton and available from The Gallup Organization • 180 item web-based assessment from the positive psychology perspective • Each item lists a pair of potential self-descriptors • Descriptors serve as anchoring polar ends of a continuum • Participant chooses statement in each pair and to what extent • Results include the students’ top five talents which are known as their “Signature Themes”

21. What are Talents? “Naturally occurring patterns of thought, feeling, or behavior that can be productively applied.” —Clifton & Harter, 2003 • Also known as gifts or abilities • Anything that enables you to do something well • Habits, behaviors, attitudes, motivations • Ways of interacting with people • Ways of processing information • Ways of working with things or dealing with situations • Ways of seeing the world

22. What are Strengths? Talent + Knowledge + Skills = Strength —Clifton and Harter, 2003 Ways of seeing the world and interacting with it that enable excellence

23. Transforming Talents into Strengths Talents are transformed into strengths through • Learning experiences • Acquiring skills • Critical thinking • Reflection • Acquiring knowledge

24. Excellence and Vocational Calling Talents must be transformed into strengths, then … strengths must be applied appropriately in order to reach excellence, then … we become the person we were created to be in order to fulfill our vocation calling.

25. The Highest Achievers • Spend most of their time in their areas of strength • Use their strengths to overcome obstacles • Invent ways of capitalizing upon their strengths in new situations

26. Outcomes of Operating Out of Strengths • Developing competence • Managing emotions • Developing autonomy • Establishing identity

27. Developing Competence • Strength awareness and application leads to a sense of competence • Focusing on strengths as the foundation for approaching tasks gives students confidence to approach it and stick with it because it tells them that they already have the raw ingredients to succeed

28. Managing Emotions • Identifying and affirming strengths produces positive emotions, which expands creativity and problem-solving and enables students to see opportunities they may have missed otherwise

29. Developing Autonomy • Seeing how each combination of strengths leads to a unique constellation within a person helps students see themselves as their own person

30. Establishing Identity • Recognizing their talents and strengths provides a sense of worth and a foundation for understanding more fully who they are—and who they are not

31. FROM Problems Attendance Preparation Putting into the student Average TO Possibilities Engagement Motivation Drawing out from the student Excellence The Focus Changes

32. Capitalizing on Strengths • Results: • Higher levels of motivation • Greater engagement in the task at hand • Personal satisfaction • Productivity • Higher levels of performance

33. Student-Parent Dialogue Overview

34. Six Program Components • Student-Parent Dialogue Information Session • First Year Experience Seminar • Career Services Groups • Student Dialogue • Parent Dialogue • Student-Parent Dialogue

35. Student-Parent Dialogue Information Session • Invited new students and their parents during the summer • Held during Fall New Student and Parent Orientation • Reviewed details and provided more specific information regarding the program components • Answered questions

36. First Year Experience Seminar • Students enrolled in the FYE Seminar may participate in the Student-Parent Dialogue • Students attend the elective, one credit hour FYE Seminar two times a week • StrengthsQuest™ is a component of the course curriculum • StrengthsFinder® assessment administered and StrengthsQuest™ material introduced prior to the Student-Parent Dialogue • Students share and verify their Signature Themes (results of assessment) with parent(s)

37. Career Services Group • New students participating in the Student-Parent Dialogue and NOT enrolled in the FYE Seminar are involved in the Career Services Group • Students attend the group for a total of six hours focused on the StrengthsQuest™ curriculum • StrengthsFinder® assessment administered and StrenthsQuest™ material introduced prior to the Student-Parent Dialogue • Students share and verify their Signature Themes (results of assessment) with parent(s)

38. Student Dialogue • All FYE Seminar and Career Services Group students attend a two hour session • Presentation and discussion • Philosophy behind strengths vs. weaknesses • Capitalizing on strengths • Understanding others • Applying strengths to academics • Student-Parent Dialogue Preparation • If you could do or be anything—if there were no limits—what would you do or be? • What do you wish your parents “got” about you?

39. Parent Dialogue • Parents attend two hour session • Presentation and discussion on students’ “tasks” during the college years • Students’ development of competence • Sources of self-efficacy • Managing emotions • Developing autonomy • Establishing identity • Developing mature relationships • Developing purpose

40. Parent Dialogue • Presentation and discussion on the role of parents in understanding the vocational calling of students • Vocational calling defined • Impact of the Positive Psychology movement • Strengths-based philosophy defined • Role of parents in the student tasks explored • Student-Parent Dialogue Preparation • Write a story that illustrates the strengths you have seen in your son or daughter since childhood • Write a “blessing” to give to your son or daughter that enables them to go forward with confidence (roots and wings)

41. Student-Parent Dialogue • Students and parents participate in a two hour program over brunch. • Discussion of students’ Signature Themes from StrengthsFinder® assessment • Students share how their most descriptive Signature Themes work together to produce success • Parents share their story about the students’ strengths that they have seen develop since childhood • Students share how their strengths connect with what they would love to do • Students and parents brainstorm together what it would take for the student to do what they would love to do • Students share what they wish their parent(s) would “get” about them • Students state what they need most from their parents at this point in their life • Parents share a lesson from their own life that they want their student to benefit from • Parents share their “blessings”

42. Timeline • Early Summer • Send Student-Parent Dialogue publicity to parents • Send Student-Parent Dialogue publicity to students • Send publicity within class registration packets to students • Mid-Summer • Send follow-up letter to parents • Late-Summer • Pre-registration deadline • Fall New Student and Parent Orientations • Student-Parent Dialogue information and late sign-up table at Parent Orientation Registration • Student-Parent Dialogue Information Session reminder cards in student and parent packets • Student-Parent Dialogue Information Session for participating and interested students and parents

43. Fiscal Considerations

44. Fiscal Components • Training of instructional and career services staff • The Gallup Organization • Center for Strengths-Based Education • Marketing materials • FYE Seminar brochure • StrengthsQuest™ brochure/postcard • Student-Parent Dialogue brochure • Parent Program follow-up letter • Postage • Speaker honorarium and travel expenses • Program supplies and services • Technical support • Copying costs for course, groups, and program sessions materials • StrengthsQuest™ textbooks for instructors, counselors, and students • Refreshments • Student-Parent Dialogue Information Session • Student Dialogue • Parent Dialogue • Brunch • Student-Parent Dialogue

45. Assessment Results

46. Assessments • First Year Experience Seminar • Pre- and post-assessments of learning outcomes • Career Services Groups • Post-assessment • Focus groups • Student-Parent Dialogue • Student post-assessment • Parent post-assessment • Staff and Faculty Leadership • Focus Group

47. SPD Student Post-Assessment Results • Positive Outcomes (five point Likert scale and open response questions) • The Student-Parent Dialogue (SPD) gave me an opportunity to talk to my parents about what I want to do with my life. 4.05 • The SPD enabled me to help my parents understand me better. 4.05 • As a result of this program, I see the connection between my strengths and being successful in college. 4.0 • As a result of this program, I see how my strengths can help me understand my calling in life. 4.0

48. Student Comments What was the most helpful thing you learned from this program? • “I can use my strengths in whatever I do.” • “My strengths can be used in my academics and in my future career.” • “Focusing on the strengths in my life is a lot better than focusing in on my weaknesses.” • “Things I considered as hobbies can have practical applications and are an integral part of my success.” • “This is a great program that all students should go through.” • “The program helped me realize the correlation between my strengths and success.” • “I enjoyed telling my parents what I am going to do.” • “It helped me reassure myself about what I am good at. It also helped me think more positively about myself.” • “I learned that I need to put forth effort into my strengths to achieve my goals.”

49. SPD Parent Post-Assessment Results • Positive Outcomes (five point Likert scale and open response questions) • The Parent Dialogue (PD) helped me understand some of the developmental issues my student will face in college. 4.10 • The PD helped me understand what it means to take a “strengths-based” approach to calling and vocation. 4.28 • The SPD gave me an opportunity to talk with my student about her/his strengths. 4.65 • The SPD gave me an opportunity to talk with my student about her/his dreams and sense of calling. 4.30 • As a result of this program, I am more confident about supporting my son or daughter as they face challenges. 4.25 • As a result of this program, I see my child’s strengths and talents more fully. 4.50

50. Parent Comments What was the most helpful thing you learned from this program? • “My son has some qualities I never knew he had and seeing how he views life and world differently than me.” • “Some “gifts” have appeared to be problems over the years, but actually, they are major strengths that make her the special person she is.” • “The most helpful thing was seeing how different in strengths my son was from me and how understanding this will help me support him as he launches out on his own.” • “During the Parent Dialogue I realized I wasn’t alone in my fears concerning my freshman.” • “Learning my daughter's strengths and her perspectives on life and her future.” • “This helped us understand how we are alike and how we are different. It helped us to see how we can resolve conflicts as they come up to face us.” • “That my daughter has a dream of earning a Ph.D. from Oxford in England.” • “My son is fine—better than fine!” • “As a parent, I need to focus on strengths and the improvement of those in my daughter as opposed to focusing on her weaknesses.“